Love Ever After
by Anthropologicality
Summary: Ryan's cootie catcher said he'd marry for love & money. 8 years later, True & Lulu still work at MadStyle, and Ryan's in town. When Ryan and Lulu begin to fall in love, it looks like the cootie catcher just might've been right. *INDEFINITE HIATUS*
1. Life as of Now

**A/N: I turned on the TV and True Jackson was on (**_**Firing Lulu**_**), so I watched it for a few minutes, and Lulu was on the phone and playing with a cootie catcher. According to the cootie catcher, Ryan was going to "marry for love **_**and **_**money." For some reason that stuck with me after I shut off the TV, and I decided to write this.**

**And as cute as Lulu and Mikey J are, Ryan/Lulu was the first TJVP couple I shipped, since the first episode. I ultimately like Ryan and Lulu together, but for now I do love her with Mikey J.**

**Love Ever After**

**Chapter One: Life as of Now**

_January 2016_

"Okay, I'll be sure to let Ms. Jackson know." Lulu Johnson spoke into the Bluetooth clipped to her ear, connected to her new Camire ReAttel cell phone, and touched it to hang up.

She knocked and poked her head into her best friend's office. "True? I called the fabric company and those swatches you wanted are on their way and should be here in a little while."

"Great. Thanks, Lulu. Now, what do you think of _this?_" True Jackson proudly turned an easel to face Lulu. "It's my new design! For a winter coat."

"I love it! Kinda reminds me of that one you did for Mr. Madigan six years ago, but totally different at the same time," Lulu assured her.

"Really?" squealed True. "As soon as that fabric arrives I'll make it."

True and Lulu were now twenty-two years old. It had been eight years since True had first started working for MadStyle in November 2008, and she had become a world-famous designer. She still worked for MadStyle. True and Jimmy had continued dating and were now engaged.

Lulu had remained True's assistant, occasionally designing. She had had several relationships after Mikey J broke up with her, preferring to move around instead of staying with one guy and getting her heart broken as with Mikey J, and was currently dating a man named Jared Young.

Ryan was busy moving around for his career as a professional magician and stand-up comedian (he had grown a lot better over the years), and though the girls kept in touch with him, they rarely saw him anymore. Most people believed Laserbeam was just his stage name, and they were frequently asked about it.

Most of the staff from six years ago was still there, with new ones as well. There was Holly, a new intern of True's, Holly's boyfriend Vince who helped Jimmy, and Amanda had finally settled on an assistant, Diana. Oscar had an intern as well, a high school boy named Chris who he was training to be a receptionist. Even Kopelman was still there, and the staff had secret bets going on about how long it would be before Mr. Madigan finally fired him—or he finally quit.

Lulu's phone began to ring, playing her favorite song of the moment, _Light It Up_ by a new band called Dailymotion, off their first album.

"Who called?"

"It's an e-mail from Ryan," she informed True, pulling it up. True went to stand beside her and read the message out loud.

" 'Hey guys, wanted you to know I'll be back in New York City in a couple of days, so I'll stop by the MadStyle office. Wait, it's still in the same place, right? Love, Ryan.' "

"There's so much wrong with him," Lulu laughed, her thumbs already typing a message back as she fell onto the couch.

"_Hey Ryan, yes, MadStyle is still in the same place. Great to hear you'll be back and we can't wait to see you again. :) It's been so long. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever. Oh, True says hi. Love, Lulu."_

Her phone beeped a minute later, informing her of a text. _"Great! Be there tomorrow morning. Tell True I say hi back,"_ it read.

She fired one back quickly—"_Yay! But what happened to a few days? Maybe you'll be here for True's wedding!"_ The wedding was scheduled to be in two months; March 15.

"_Hope so! :)"_

Oscar poked his head in. "Lulu, two people are here for you."

"Who is it?" Lulu asked, looking up from her phone.

"Jared, and someone from the fabric company."

"Ooh!" Lulu squealed, jumping up from the couch.

When she got out in the lobby, she held up her index finger to Jared, mouthing "One second," as she took the fabric from the guy and had him charge True's company credit card. After giving True the fabric, she squealed and ran into Jared's arms.

"Hey, Jared!" she cried joyfully, giving him a kiss. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"I was in the area, so I thought I'd stop by. But I have to leave in a few minutes," he told her. "My boss needs me at work."

Lulu's face fell, almost into a pout. "You do?"

"Yeah. But I'll be out in time for our date tonight," he said reassuringly. She smiled again.

"Okay."

He checked his watch. "Oops, I gotta go. See you later, baby." He kissed her again before running out of the office.

**Good? Bad? So horrible I shouldn't even write it? Let me know! This is my first time writing for True Jackson, so it's probably not that great.**

**The next chapter, I think, will be Ryan's return to NYC. I probably won't be updating for a while, not until I at least finish the final chapter of one or both of the current multichapters I have, but I'll try.**

**Oh, and the title is from the song "Life After You" by Daughtry. It was going to be **_**All That I'm After is a Life Full of Laughter**_**, my favorite line from that song, but I thought it was too long, so "Love Ever After" is part of another line.**


	2. Ryan's Return

**Love Ever After  
Chapter Two: Ryan's Return**

"Hello, ladies!" a familiar voice called as its owner strode confidently into the room.

"Ryan!" Lulu squealed as both her and True rushed over to hug him. He put an arm around each.

"Hey, Ryan. Welcome back. We've missed you," True said once he released them.

Ryan plopped himself down on the couch. "Good to be back!" he proclaimed, putting his feet up on True's coffee table. Lulu smiled and sat next to him.

"So what's going on with my two favorite girls today?" he asked, hooking his arm around Lulu's neck.

"I've gotta finish this coat before the meeting tomorrow morning," True said, snipping fabric. She held up a sketchpad with a picture of a girl wearing a winter coat on it.

"Nice! What about you, Double-Lu?"

"I'm meeting my boyfriend later," Lulu said happily.

A confused look came over Ryan's face. "You have a _boyfriend_? For how long?"

"About two weeks now. His name's Jared," she replied. "Jared Young."

"Right. Why did I not know about this?" asked Ryan.

Lulu now wore a similar confused look. "I think I did…I might've been texting someone else, though. I _was_ wondering why you kept saying you were going to call the cops." She beamed.

"How'd you meet him?"

"Well, True and I were at this restaurant, and I dropped my ring and I couldn't find it, so he was passing by and he asked why I was on the floor, so I told him and he helped me find it!" she said in one breath. She paused for a second before saying, "He's a doctor."

Ryan didn't say anything back for a moment, just gave her a funny look. Then he said "Great," which was the first thing that came to his mind, and hastily tried to change the subject. "So, um, True, how's Jimmy?"

As if on cue, Jimmy chose then to zoom in on his mail cart. He had a different one now; it was similar, but an updated version of his old one. He hopped off. "Hey Ryan," he said automatically, still looking at the letters in his hand. Then his head snapped up. "Ryan? When'd you get here?"

"Coupla minutes ago," responded Ryan nonchalantly.

Jimmy sort of straightened his shoulders and tilted his head slightly back for a second. "Oh. You're coming to the wedding, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Ryan said distractedly and nonchalantly, in the way that made you wonder whether he was serious or not. He then sat up straight and stared at Jimmy, looking slightly horrified. "Please tell me your band isn't playing."

Jimmy gave him a look like he was a complete idiot. "Please. I'm getting married, I'm not gonna be playing music! That'd be stupid. Anyway, gotta go." He hopped back on his mail cart and zoomed off.

"Actually, I talked him out of it. He wanted to," True said, grimacing. "I love Jimmy, but his band's terrible."

Ryan threw his hands in the air in a "hallelujah" gesture. "_Thank_ you!" he cried. Lulu giggled. "So who do _you_ want to play?" he asked.

True shrugged. "Well, I was thinking maybe that band Dailymotion that Lulu likes. She's gotten me into it lately. They're probably not the normal wedding choice, but they've got some pretty cute love songs."

"Like _I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know_," Lulu cut in. "Or _I Don't Want to Miss a Thing._"

"Exactly," True agreed, pulling a needle and thread through fabric.

"You should call them," Lulu said. "See if they'll do it. 'Cause that would be _so_ amazing if Dailymotion could be at your wedding!"

"I'll ask Jimmy," she agreed.

"So what's been up with you, Ryan? Touring good?"

"Yeah. Gets boring, though, by myself, so in each town I kinda like to go on a date if I can. I mean, it's just me, Jeff the driver, and Steven, who plays the background music during my shows. I need some time with the ladies." He nodded, obviously pleased with himself and his womanizing talents. "You know, I obviously can't _stay_ with any of them, even I wanted to."

Lulu rolled her eyes at him and caught sight of the clock. "Oh, I gotta go!" she exclaimed, grabbing her purse and rushing out.

"Where's she going?" Ryan asked after a moment.

"Date with Jared," True replied nonchalantly, still a little distracted by the coat. "Wanna play games on my computer?"

Ryan jumped up. "You _knows_ it!"

**Okay, first off, I'm **_**so**_** sorry it took so long. Major writer's block. Thanks to reallyJavannah who was going to help me, but didn't get a chance. I may still need you for the next chapter.**

**Both songs I mentioned are actually real song titles. The first, **_**I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know**_**, is by Christofer Drew, aka Never Shout Never—not one of my favorites by him, though. The second, **_**I Don't Want to Miss a Thing**_**, is by Aerosmith and it's one of my favorite songs lately. I scrolled up and down what I have on my iPod, and those were the two I stopped on.**


End file.
